Anya's Musings

Its been 3 months since I’ve moved back to India and so far
my body has been struggling to adjust to the switch. Traveling is one thing,
you guys. Moving is another. I’m just so stunned till now that I don’t have to
do EVERY SINGLE THING on my own, which can be both rewarding, and extremely
frustrating (I like my coffee a certain way, thank you very much). Speaking of
which, no Starbucks in Chandigarh.

Which brings me back to what I began writing about. Now, I’m
a Delhi girl, having spent a really really long time there (high school, under
grad, post grad, jobs and what nots) and all my friends live there. I’m in Chandigarh
because my parents live here now and I am broke. I used to live here once, many
many moons ago but I have basically no one to talk to here and have no idea
where to go to eat or drink or shop for anything (except the ever-famous
Elante 😶).

So imagine my surprise when I discovered this little
hole-in-the-wall place in Sector 8 market, Chandigarh that served one of the
best milkshakes I have ever had. Milkshake & Co is a little, charming
takeaway place nestled in the Sector 8 market. There is not seating arrangement
– you literally just order, pay, wait and take your drink and move out.

What I honestly loved about Milkshake & Co is that they don’t
shy away from innovation. Last time I was there, they were introducing
something called the Loaded Popcorn Milkshake (true story) that was served with
actual popcorn on top. Their shakes come served in really quirky cups. Their
lemonades and cold coffees come in customized tin cans which you can carry
home.

Relish Godfather milkshake - coffee and chocolate!

I have so far tried the Godfather and Black Eye milkshakes.
Both excellent. In lemonade, I recommend the blueberry lemonade of the
elderflower lemonade. Trust me, I’m not the sort of person who drinks or enjoys
lemonade but Milkshake & Co’s Elderflower lemonade was out of this world.

Wow, after over a year long absence (except the one post about my identity crisis), I am back! Anya's musings are back! Feels great. I've been MIA for many reasons - mainly that I moved to another country & life happened, but that's such a poor excuse. I am currently in United States, seriously considering moving back to India but let's see how that shapes up. But if I am going to leave, I wanted to travel a little bit (on my micro budget) & have managed to see a few hidden and not-so-hidden gems of this country.

Today, I am writing about my most recent journey - a day-long trip to Austin, Texas. I am in Houston these days giving interviews and what-not, visiting friends etc. Coming from Boston where it is still winter, Houston has been a surprise. Basically, I wanted to explore Texas a little bit but I am pressed for time and money, and I don't drive in the USA, so I googled "Fun things to do around Houston" and after much perusing, I realised that a day trip to Austin is just the thing for me (okay, it was my friend's idea, not mine).

Austin is about a couple of hours drive from Houston. We rented a car and started off at about 8.30am, grabbing coffee & food from Starbucks. We went with an open mind with no specific to-do list expect to just chill out. Bad weather seems to be following me everywhere because enroute to Austin we were met by a very torrential rain. Trust me not to check out the weather of the destination before starting. I actually was quite scared - we couldn't see anything but pouring rain for about 2-4 whole minutes and we were in the middle of a highway!

Really, the sky should've been warning enough for us!

Our first stop in Austin was SoCo - South Congress and I instantly fell in love (despite the chill in the air post-rain). We wanted to check out the I Love You So Much mural which despite its fame, to my untrained eye looked like the words "I love you so much" spray painted on the wall of Jo's, a very popular coffee joint. I later googled the history/significance of the mural.

SoCo is a very pretty, quirky area, filled with cafes, restaurants, shops, food and ice cream trucks, and of course, quirky murals. I really really recommend a visit here. You also get a nice view of the buildings and state capitol from this area. We went to Jo's and I tried the iced turbo. Thankfully it wasn't a sickening sweet and I actually found it rather refreshing. I don't know how long I was in there because when I got out, the sun was shining and it was really warm!

One of the many beautiful murals adorning the walls of SoCo establishments

First view of Austin

Which was great because our next stop was Zilker Metropolitan Park. It's a great place of sprawling greenery and the perfect place for outdoor activities - hiking, biking, kayaking and swimming. Unfortunately we were not dressed for the great outdoors. I was not wear appropriate footwear, we were in jeans and we did not have swimwear with us. So we were the happy spectators of this stunning Austin view! I was super fascinated by Barton Spring Pool, the natural swimming pool fed by nearby natural springs. I think adults have to pay $8 to use the pool but since we didn't have swimwear, we saw it from behind the barricade. I had never seen anything like this - you can even see the limestone around and inside it.

Me admiring Barton Natural Pool

We had lunch at Magnolia Cafe - a true delight. Their mimosa was amazing, as was the food. I highly recommend this place. Like, highly.

Our trip ended with a short stop at Hippie Hollow. But more on that some other day.

I was at my cousin's place a few nights ago and we decided to watch a movie - a challenging task since all of us rarely agree to a single film. In the end, most of us decided to re-watch The Namesake, based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri of the same name. I think I had last watched The Namesake some 5 years ago, and while I had loved it back then as well, it just resonated much more to me this time.

One of the reasons why we all thought watching this particular film would be nice was because it talks about immigrants from India settling down in the USA and the struggles they go through, as well as the nice bonds they create in this foreign land. It's a nice movie, and if you haven't already, do watch it. For me, personally, there were different parts where the characters of Irfan Khan, Tabu and Kal Penn, all reminded me of me at some point in life.

It's easy to see how Kal Penn's character might have been like me. We have all (well, most of us) gone through phases of teenage rebellion where our parents are our worst enemies, we hate the name given to us by our parents (either it's too common or too unique) and we just know we are right, without anything but our own gut feeling to support that. Then the age of the early 20s, where you're an adult and you earn but you couldn't be bothered by your family and your large social life is everything. Then comes that stage in your life when you want to rush back home and eat homemade food and question what (all) has gone wrong in life.

Tabu's character was easy to relate to as well. We see her struggle of adjusting in a foreign land, her extreme homesickness, her love for her home city/country, her culture, her food, her home's clothes etc. In the last one year I have been through it all. It is so difficult now what with whatsapp and FaceTime; I can't even imagine how lonely it must feel to migrate this far away from home in the 1970s. And she's an English major. Now I may not remember Daffodils by heart (yes, I know, judge me later) but still, English lit wins my heart.

But the character I related to the most was that of Ashoke Ganguly, played by Irfan Khan. I too, for the longest time in my life, never saw any reason to move abroad for a great length of time, believing that books really were the best way to travel and what not (especially it being more economical). Then I too, made the very difficult decision of leaving everything I know and love behind me because I wanted more. I am not sure more what exactly - I guess more excitement, but definitely more than what I had everything. In that process, alienating myself with everything familiar. It is a very, very difficult decision to make, something I hadn't expected it to be.

Apart from the whole immigrant angle, what really stuck with me was Ashoke and Ashima's love story. Their marriage was as arranged as it could be back in the '70s, they never once did any form of PDA, they never even told each other that they loved each other! But it is still such a sweet love story. In contrast was Gogol's failed love life. His first girlfriend and he broke up because he felt she was too different than her culturally (and personally, I found her shockingly insensitive when she suggests going with him to India to scatter his dad's ashes in the Ganga; I mean it's not a vacation, woman), shown very beautifully in Ashoke's funeral scene where everyone is dressed in white, and she is standing out in black. His second girlfriend and wife is a Bengali, daughter of a family friend and is a result of modern-day matchmaking/arranged marriage approach. And that goes down the drain too. My cousin and I pondered over why he picked two wrong women. I said maybe he was just unlucky in love. I don't know. But it made me think why so many people think it's okay to cheat on their partners at the drop of a hat.